2023 Ripples & Reflections – Meet the Artists

A fine group of artists are featured throughout August in our 2023 Ripples & Reflections Art Show and benefit. Below are a few insightful notes on the lives and art of each of them.

Come see the artists’ works at the Muse Vineyards tasting room, and join us on Sunday, August 6th, to meet some of these wonderfully expressive colleagues and friends at the ‘Wine on the Water’ gallery event, with food and drink provided.

Purchase Tickets Here for the show’s ‘Wine on the Water’ gallery event on Sunday, August 6th, 6-8pm

Dianna Bennett

As an artist, Dianna is inspired by the textures, patterns, and the details of Nature. Her works are abstract interpretations of Nature. Dianna teaches biology and chemistry at Central High School in Woodstock, Virginia. Over the course of her career, she has incorporated art many times into her science curriculum. Dianna finds the process of building and sculpting layer upon layer of melted wax and resin with fire to be elemental, a place where art and science converge.

Andrea Carracedo

Andrea grew up in Banyoles, a small city in Catalonia, Spain. She graduated from University of Girona with a License in Art History and a Masters in Communication and Art Criticism. She has curated and organized art shows, including benefit shows and auctions, through Tint XXI gallery and Taller Joan de Palau, the same studio where she studied painting as a child.

Her artistic style favors abstracted landscapes, with an emphasis on texture, fields of color, and experimental techniques. She works primarily with acrylics, and is currently working in encaustic and mixed media. Her work is collected in Europe, Australia, and the US. She is in the process of moving to the Shenandoah Valley.

Jenn Cole

Bio coming soon.

Lynne Crumpacker

Bio
Started out with a focus on painting as a youth, then full-circle, back to painting —in between were explorations in several crafts, learning the old ways and
then taking them to more contemporary forms:
1960-70’s – Fibers: Spinning/weaving/basketry/dying/knotting/etc – even raised sheep for the beautiful colors of their wool.
Late 1970’s – 2005: Pottery The idea of the texture and flow of fibers was carried over as part of the clay work. Became a full-time studio potter in Shenandoah County – “serving the needs” of the community for handmade, functional items. Our towns all had their potters into the early 1900’s and so it seemed a continuation of that spirit.
1989 – 2003: Shop-Keeper – Was a partner in the “Edinburg Village Shop” for 14 years until the business was sold. Except for a few galleries and occasional art/ craft fairs, all the pottery was sold through that venue.
Lifetime: Graphic Design – Every enterprise included the need to advertise, label, display. Went from doing it by hand to computer.
2010-2022: Mountain Courier – Graphic editor/design/layout/ads. Took on the full art layout production of the Courier after years of ad and occasional design work since it’s first issue in 1994. Received awards for ad design by Virginia Press Association in the years, 2012 through 2021.
Present 2023: Graphic design and painting in watercolor, pastel, oil.

Jaz Draper

As a relatively young artist, not in age of course, but in experience, mosaics give me the freedom to tap into previously hidden creativity. Creating a mosaic is much like a jigsaw puzzle except I get to craft the shapes and select fun colors and tesserae to bring a piece to life. I especially enjoy creating mosaics on guitars as substrates.

Rachel Fitzsimmons

Rachel Fitzsimmons is an artist who captures the rhythm of life with vibrant colors. She has a natural ability of harnessing her creativity by observing the world around her. Traveling to places such as India, Nepal, Italy, and Portugal has influenced her artistry. She grew up on a farm by the Shenandoah River. The river became her place of solace and playtime, especially when it involved skipping rocks or climbing trees. She loves to create mixed media pieces with plants and items from nature. She graduated with a BA in Art and Art History from Dickinson College. She continued her studies in education and teaches Theatre at Central High School in Woodstock, VA. She lives in Woodstock with her son and three cats.

Caitlin Garvey

Caitlin Garvey (b. 1970, Brooklyn, New York) is a Virginia-based photographer whose work explores the themes of identity and relationship. Drawing inspiration from the Shenandoah Valley where she resides, her art often utilizes nature as a metaphor to explore the concepts of self and belonging, while in relationship with one’s community and environment. Garvey received a B.A. in journalism, a M.A. in English literature, a J.D. from the University of Dayton School of Law, and an L.L.M in international law from American University. She has worked as an attorney, a librarian, a historical interpreter and a teacher. Her work has been widely shown in galleries including juried shows at the Museum of the Shenandoah, Athenaeum Gallery, Darkroom, 1650 Gallery, the Art League, the Valley Educational Center for the Creative Arts, Muse Winery, and the Falls Church Arts Center. Her art has been featured by the “Mountain Courier”, the Tiny Seed Literary Journal, Artist-Blacksmith’s Association of North America, the Gardener’s of America, and the American Horticultural Society. She was the featured artist in the “Mass on the Epiphany in Creation, A Eucharist Drawing on the Poetry of Mary Oliver” where her images were projected on the walls of St. Aidan’s Epsicoal Church accompanied by the poetry of Mary Oliver and the words of the mass. Among her honors, Garvey was awarded “Honorable Mention” at the Moscow International Foto awards and also at the Neutral Density Photography Awards and “Best in Show ” and the “People’s Choice” awards in a juried show at the Valley Educational Center for the Creative Arts. Most recently, she was honored to have her work included in the the Woodstock Banner project.

Kary Haun

In studying ceramics and working in clay for more than 20 years, I have always been fascinated by the complex problem of integrating three essential elements of ceramic design: form, surface, and function. My forms are wheel thrown, always with the user in mind considering weight, balance and how comfortable it is to hold. The surfaces are then treated as a blank canvas. With a background in painting, I like to spray my glazes to allow for soft transitions between colors. Then I often integrate stenciled graphics or layered brush marks.

What I love about creating functional pieces of art is the vision of their usefulness. The idea of the viewer or user having a relationship with the piece that speaks to their love of food and drink whether pouring, serving or sipping. While I am creating my work, I am very concerned with its function giving it a reason to not simply be hidden behind a cabinet. At the same time, I wish to elevate the experience of everyday to something extraordinary.

 Kary Haun has taught art, sculpture and ceramics for more than fifteen years. She has worked professionally as a potter, and as a designer. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from East Carolina University.

Currently, Kary is working exclusively in Porcelain, and firing in oxidation to 2200°F in her Log House Studio in Woodstock, VA and works part time in the County Tourism Department promoting the community she loves.

Taken from https://www.karyhaun.com/about.html

Ann Heap

Ann Heap is a photographer, writer, and fabric artist from Fort Valley, Virginia. She is retired from Warren Country Public School where she taught English, journalism, photojournalism, and photography. Ann hails from Washington, D.C. and made the Shenandoah Valley a camping destination for many years until she finally made it her home in 1986 when she moved to Fort Valley. Much of her work is inspired by the views that surround her – the mountains, valleys, and of course, the river that flows through. She loves to create what she calls “Shenandoah Glimpses” which are words and images that together speak to the beauty, culture, and people of her beloved Shenandoah Valley home. Ann is a regular exhibiting artist at VECCA (Valley Educational Center for the Creative Arts) and her work is often available at other regional festivals or shows.

August Hoerr

August Hoerr grew up in Alabama and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting and drawing from the University of Montevallo. With a painting career spanning 25 years, he has exhibited work in the US and UK, and recently completed a solo show and artist residency in Catalonia, Spain. He currently works from a home studio in the Shenandoah Valley.

Nancy Ramsey

Nancy Ramsey is an abstract painter who values exploring the natural world and often references nature and particularly the watershed in her abstract art. She grew up playing in the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers. Nancy begins much of her landscape related work through studying maps or en plein air.  She sees art as another way of processing the world and recreating life’s experiences. These experiences, which create many mental images, are layered onto the canvas. Bits from photographs, maps and memories are combined to suggest local waterways, land and native flora.

Kay Ely-Pierce

I work in various media, although my focus here is acrylic painting on canvas. Early in my career, my work was all quite representational, but over the years I discovered that what provides the most gratification is abstract expressionism. The extent of abstraction varies. Regardless, my intent is to convey a sense of dynamics-color, texture, and movement-to allow one to feel the painting; to see something personal and meaningful. This work has not been exhibited before and reflects a novel (to me) process. Paint is applied, removed (with everything from water to steel wool scrapers, sandpaper…), layered, reapplied, removed…over and over. Some pieces take weeks of layering and removing, others only days.

My work has been featured in The Museum of the Shenandoah Valley, The Bowman-Shannon Cultural Arts Center and at Muse Vineyards (most recently as the July featured Artist). Currently, my ceramics and smaller paintings can be found at Explore Art & Clay gallery in Front Royal, Virginia. Larger works can be seen by appointment at my studio in Maurertown, Virginia.

My Studio is a mile from The North Fork. Our family has spent many hours on the river over the last 30 years and has seen first-hand what a difference The Friends of the North Fork has made in maintaining its beauty. Beautiful surroundings are vital to my creative process and the river is an integral part of that. Beautiful surroundings are vital to my creative process and the river is an integral part of that. There is so much wonder in our lives. I never cease to be amazed and inspired. I hope that you are too.

Jeanne Ellen Russell

Jeanne moved to Edinburg 22 years ago from Arlington where she grew up. She loves the beauty and pace of the valley and particularly loves our beautiful river. Jeanne owns and operates an e-commerce site www.fengshuimandalas.com

Kevin Seabrooke

“Every child is an artist until he’s told he’s not an artist.”— JOHN LENNON I can’t remember a time when I haven’t mentally framed the world around me as a photo or a drawing and, much later, a painting. I’m always looking for patterns and shapes, sometimes becoming intoxicated by the light. Much of my work, including some in this show, comes from frenzied moments of pulling over on rural roads and running to capture views I have to paint.

Travis Schuerman

Travis Schuerman was born and raised just outside New York City. He studied Architecture and Anthropology at Syracuse University where he received his Bachelor of Arts. It was during this time when he began his career in painting. A self-taught surrealist early in his artistic journey, he often used his dreams as material for his work. After graduation, he lived for a time in New York City, where he worked at The New Museum of Contemporary Art while continuing to paint. In 2005, he relocated to Costa Rica, where he lived and worked for the last 16 years. In 2019, at the beginning of the pandemic, he enrolled in online instruction at The Art Students League of New York, where he began studying realism. In 2020 he returned to New York City for live instruction at “The League”. His recent work continues his exploration of realist painting, with a focus on landscapes and portraiture. He currently resides in the Shenandoah Valley where he takes his inspiration from local beauty. His goal is to integrate the painterly and atmospheric qualities of realism into his surreal explorations of the psyche that birthed his love of the arts.

Rod Shepherd

We do live in a special place here in the Shenandoah Valley. Over the past dozen years I’ve been documenting the natural beauty of Mount Jackson and the surrounding valley. My best subjects continue to be landscapes and wildflowers. I’ve been taking photographs for sixty years. Yes, my first camera was one of those black cube Kodak Brownie Hawkeye cameras. Today I shoot with a Nikon DSLR mainly, but the Cannon point & shoot and smart phone are lighter, less bulky alternatives on ski slopes or bike rides.

Helen Jean Smith

Helen resides in Lantz Mill, Shenandoah Co., VA. She is well known for her whimsical depictions of small towns in Virginia and beyond. Most of her paintings are done on a commission basis. Among her clients are the National Park Service, First Bank, Shenandoah Memorial Hospital, Mary Matalin and James Carville, Susan and Sandy Berger, Oliver and Betsy North, Senator and Mrs. Charles Robb, Al and Margarette Smith and Congressman and Mrs. Frank Wolfe.

Taken from https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/34763817_helen-jean-smith-virginia-20th-century-shenandoah

Sue Somerville

Bio coming soon.

Kat Turner

Kathryn studied Studio Art at the University of Maryland’s campus in Munich, Germany. Three years in Europe gave her the opportunity to visit museums and attend lectures and seminars in Belgium, Austria, Italy, and Spain as well as in Germany. She continues to study, attending classes and workshops through many avenues, including Art in the Valley and Atelier’s Garage, and classes under Lori Goll and Michael Budzisz.

Kathryn’s art conveys what creation communicates to her. Her work ranges from the playful and whimsical to the mysterious and ethereal. Her love of nature and imagination drives her to seek a place where reality and fantasy meet. Her study of line quality brings the viewer to a meditative place, and the pick-out technique of her charcoal drawings give her works a dream-like quality.

Kathryn now resides in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley. Having raised and homeschooled her four children, she is now free to turn her full attention to her artwork and creative endeavors. She does original work in many media, including Watercolors, Acrylics, Pastels, Ink, and Graphite. She also enjoys
copper tooling and Polish Folk Art.

You can find Kathryn’s art displayed locally; prints and originals are currently available at Mountain Mystic Trading Company. She has been featured in Artists in Middleburg in Middleburg, VA; Art at the Mill in Millwood, VA; The River House in Capon Bridge, WV. She is available at the artisan’s markets of The River House in Capon Bridge, WV, at the Blue Ridge Arts Festival, and at Ravenwood Festival, and she is a regular feature artist on the First Friday Art Walks in Winchester, VA. She has also coordinated local classes and workshops. Commissions are always welcome, pet portraits and child portraits are her specialty. For more information, please visit KatTurnerFineArt.com, or email her directly at kattyannekasha@gmail.com. You can also find her on Facebook (Kat Turner Fine Art) and Instagram (katturnerfineart).

“Every piece I’ve done has been commissioned: some by customers, others by animals that nag at me until I finish their portraits. I think Creation has something to say, and I am privileged to give it a voice”
-Kathryn Turner